now resolved to win her esteem, and bind her yet more closely to me by
correcting those faults in my character she had pointed out with so much
tenderness.

Alas! the very next day was destined to bring me a sore trouble. On
entering the breakfast-room I became aware that a shadow had fallen on
the house. Among his silent people the father sat with gray, haggard
face and troubled eyes; then Yoletta entered, her sweet face looking
paler than when I had first seen it after her long punishment, while
under her heavy, drooping eyelids her skin was stained with that
mournful purple which tells of a long vigil and a heart oppressed with
anxiety. I heard with profound concern that Chastel's malady had
suddenly become aggravated; that she had passed the night in the
greatest suffering. What would become of me, and of all those bright
dreams of happiness, if she were to die? was my first idea. But at the
same time I had the grace to feel ashamed of that selfish thought.
Nevertheless, I could not shake off the gloom it had produced in me,
and, too distressed in mind to work or read, I repaired to the Mother's
Room, to be as near as possible to the sufferer on whose recovery so
much now depended. How lonely and desolate it seemed there, now that she
was absent! Those mountain landscapes, glowing with the white radiance
of mimic sunshine, still made perpetual summer; yet there seemed to be a
wintry chill and death-like atmosphere which struck to the heart, and
made me shiver with cold. The day dragged slowly to its close, and no
rest came to the sufferer, nor sign of improvement to relieve our
anxiety. Until past midnight I remained at my post, then retired for
three or four miserable, anxious hours, only to return once more when it
was scarcely light. Chastel's condition was still unchanged, or, if
there had been any change, it was for the worse, for she had not slept.
Again I remained, a prey to desponding thoughts, all day in the room;